Day 1 - The Lazy S

Well, I'm callin this 'un our one-eighty ride, as our original plans were to take us to Gettysburg, PA to meet up with some folks I met on a forum, inthewindwithdoc.com. I had met the proprietor of the forum when Doc and his bride, Karen, had paid us a visit while ridin the hills of North Carolina and East Tennessee…and was lookin forward to meetin a few of the other forum members. But, as with many best laid plans, some personal stuff came up that put the nix on the Gettysburg trip. So, we moved the departure date back a few days, and set our sights on a destination 180 degrees from our original plans…the Florida Keys. Hey, once ya get yer sites set on a date fer a ride, ya gotta do something or bust, eh.

This trip would include me 'n the missus, and our buds from South Carolina, Cuz 'n Loosie. My li’l sweetie, CK, was the only one outta this bunch that had been to Key West before, but that was a good while back, and she was as eager as I was to leave her footprints on the Conch Republic. Yank 'n Nancy, from Buffalo, were gonna join us, but had to back out at the last minute due to some medical concerns...which, much to our relief and I'm sure theirs, turned out to be a non-issue. Whew, good friends are hard to come by...and bein the selfish one that I am, I wanna hold on to mine as long as I can.

Anyways, CK ‘n I drop our son at my sister’s place, and head out Friday mornin to South Carolina to sack down for the night at Cuz’s place in Laurens, SC…which he affectionately calls the Lazy S. Did I mention Cuz’s real name is Sam…gettit?...Lazy S…huh?, don’t feel bad if yer slow or sumthin. We head south on TN-68 which is a really nice winding road thru the country out the south side of Tellico Plains, TN…thru the southwest tip of NC…with a dip down into north GA where we hang a left and head towards SC on scenic US-76. Of course, we make the obligatory lid-removal stop at the Chattooga River which marks the GA/SC border. Three or four hours later, we roll into the drive at the Lazy S. Turns out our bud, Muthuh, from North Carolina decided to join us at Cuz’s place for a li’l sendoff party…seein as he couldn’t make the ride to Key West due to the fact he was already headin there two months later in August for a family reunion. We all agreed he needed to have a little talk with his family, and sign ‘em up for Remedial Trip Plannin 101, seein as August isn’t ‘zactly what anyone would consider the best time for a trip to the Keys.

After unpackin our gear, and stashin ole Rattler away in Cuz’s shop fer the night, we settle in for an eve of catchin up with friends on the back deck…of course, with brews ‘n margaritas a flowin. Ya’ll get some rest now…we’re gettin an early start in the morn.